The present invention relates to collecting geographic data and more particularly, the present invention relates to a process and system that collects address location information using delivery trucks.
Collecting information for a geographic database is a significant task. Not only is the initial collection of data a significant undertaking, but a geographic database needs to be updated on a regular basis. For example, new streets are constructed, street names change, traffic lights are installed, and turn restrictions are added to existing roads. Also, new levels of detail may be added about geographic features that are already represented in an existing geographic database. For example, an existing geographic database for roads may be enhanced with information about lane widths, shoulder sizes, lane barriers, address ranges, sidewalks, bicycles paths, etc. Thus, there exists a need to continue to collect information for a geographic database.
One method for collecting data for a geographic database is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,234. According to one embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,234, navigation systems are installed in a plurality of vehicles that are operated for various purposes. As an example, the vehicles may be used by persons for routine, everyday activities, such as commuting, shopping, and so on. These vehicles are also used passively as probes to collect geographic data as the vehicles are driven for these various other purposes. The navigation systems in these vehicles may also provide navigation-related features to the drivers and/or passengers of the vehicles in which they are installed, or alternatively, the navigation systems may serve only to collect geographic data as the vehicles in which they are installed are driven. The geographic data collected by the plurality of vehicles are gathered together, analyzed, and used to update or refine a master geographic database. Copies of the master geographic database, or database products derived from the master copy, can then be distributed back to the navigation systems installed in the plurality of vehicles.
The embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,234 afford useful advantages. However, there still exists a need to provide improved methods and systems for collecting data for a geographic database.
One type of information that is useful to include in a geographic database is street address location information. Street addresses are not assigned consistently throughout a region or country. Therefore, prior methods for collecting street address location information have required field personnel from a geographic database developer to travel along each street in a geographic region, observe the actual street addresses, record their observations and then add the street address information to the geographic database. This process is relatively time-consuming and therefore relatively expensive.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to collect street address location information more efficiently.
To address these and other objectives, the present invention comprises embodiments for collecting data that relate addresses to map-referenced locations. A fleet of delivery trucks delivers items to locations throughout a geographic region. Each item to be delivered includes a tracking code. An electronic code reader device is used to record the tracking code of an item when the item is being delivered. A position determining device, such as a GPS unit, is used to determine a geographic position associated with the delivery of each item. Data indicating the tracking code of an item and the corresponding geographic position associated with the delivery are stored. Then, using data that indicate an address associated with each tracking code, each address is associated with a geographic position. This information is used to revise a geographic database, e.g., to relate addresses to map-referenced locations.